Save this document

In a joint effort to pilot North-West Europe (NWE) towards a low-carbon energy future, nine project partners have teamed up to develop a standardised model for renewables-based decentral hybrid energy systems (DHES) in the project "Low Carbon Off-grid Communities (LOGiC)". The decentralised hybrid renewable energy systems will lead to a reduction in carbon emissions and will help provide a reliable and local power supply for local communities. The project is led by the Dutch Regional Development Agency North Holland North (NHN) and will receive support from Interreg NWE with 60 percent of the project's EUR 4,2 million budget being funded through the European Regional Development Fund.

LOGiC focuses on Energy Remoteness'. An area is considered energy remote' if it is not connected to the main energy infrastructure and LOGiC addresses this problem with decentral hybrid energy systems combining different types of renewables, such as tidal, wind and solar PV with each other as well as with battery storage. As wind, solar, tidal are intermittent by nature and cannot guarantee security of supply in a single source approach, a hybrid model is used. Such a model will enable cheaper, cleaner and more reliable electricity for local consumers and will empower local end-users to be able influence the local energy mix, as they will not have to rely on expensive imported fossil fuels.

Thijs Pennink, Director, NHN: "Especially the combination of different energy generators in one
system on this scale has not been shown before in North-West Europe. The project fits perfectly with the ambitions of the North Holland North region to contribute to the acceleration of the energy transition and to be the frontrunner."

Three remote areas in the Netherlands (Texel), United Kingdom (Orkney Islands) and Germany (Gimbweiler) will act as the pilot locations and real-life testing grounds for the new hybrid energy systems. A standardised methodology will be thereafter developed, which can be applied for additional uptake in other locations of North-West Europe.

"The project fits perfectly with the ambitions of the North Holland North region to contribute to the acceleration of the energy transition and to be the frontrunner."

LOGiC fits well into a broader ambition in North-West Europe to shift towards a low carbon economy in all sectors and the overall EU Energy Roadmap 2050, which concludes that a new configuration of decentralised and centralised large-scale systems needs to emerge.'

The LOGiC project will initially last until March 2020 and will aim to gain widespread support in local communities of North-West Europe, as well as backing from politicians, academia and businesses. As an integral part of the project, NHN will therefore launch a Community of Practice' to collect feedback from all stakeholders and share best practices on decentralised renewable hybrid energy systems, which in turn will be included in the final model developed by the project.